Yreka High boys varsity basketball: Currie comes through in the clutch

Monday

Dec 3, 2012 at 2:21 PMDec 3, 2012 at 2:26 PM

Bill Choy

When it mattered the most,Tyler Currie stepped up in a big way for the Yreka Miners varsity basketball team at the 58th Annual Yreka Miners Invitational Basketball Tournament.Down by three to Del Norte in the boys seventh place game on Saturday, Currie was able to put up a three-pointer a second before the shot clock buzzer went off.The shot went in with about a minute left in the game to tie things up at 48-48 in a contest that went back and forth throughout.Currie said that it was a designed play and commended teammate Anthony Whitaker for doing a good job of distributing the ball to him.Currie was not done and caused a turnover a short time later. With time running out, he went down the court and was fouled hard going to the basket with 0.4 seconds left as he prepared to shoot two free throws to decide the game."I just tried to focus," he said. Currie proceeded to calmly make the two three throws to give the Miners the 50-48 victory. It was the first win of the season for Yreka after dropping two fairly close contests to start the tournament. The sophomore point guard went 10-for-17 for 28 points, including four three-pointers He also had four assists, two block shots and a steal. Currie said that the entire squad battled the entire game and that this is a team that has worked well together. "It was a team effort," he said.Saturday's contest was quite evenly matched with neither team gaining an upper hand. After a quarter of play the game was knotted up at 13-13. At the half the score was still tied at 28-28.The Warriors led by two at 42-40 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter Del Norte had a 47-42 advantage before the Miners battled their way back.Yreka head coach Christian Birch said that this was his first time defeating Del Norte and commended his squad for defeating a solid team in the Warriors. After losing two close games to start the season Birch said the win was certainly a confidence booster for his squad. Birch said that the squad "mixed it up" more on defense and while they pressed like they had the first two games they also played some zone and said this seemed to work well during the game."This was a good first step for us," Birch said about the win. But, he added, the team knows they still have a lot of work ahead and have to keep making strives.Senior Tyler Johnson had a solid game and finished with 12 points, three blocks, two assits and four rebounds.Curie and Johnson accounted for 40 or the Miners 50 points. Quaid Blanchard had five rebounds and three assits, while Whitaker had five steals. Kaden Culp fisnhed with four points, four assits and two steals.The Miners opened the season on Thursday and lost in a fairly tight battle against St. Mary’s, 67-63. On Friday, the Miners lost to Mazama 58-48 . The score was tied with around two minutes remaining but Mazama pulled away for the win. In that contest, Currie led Miner scorers with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and four steals. Tevin Cadola finished with nine points and Anthony Whitaker had eight points. Johnson had six points, eight rebounds, eight steals and three assists.Tonight, Yreka hosts Lost River at home starting at 7:30 p.m. following the girls varsity contest. The Miner boys junior varsity team opens the season today and plays at 4:30 p.m.Below are the results from the boys games from the final day of the tournament and all-tournament honors that were bestowed on the two local boys teams at the event, Yreka and Mount Shasta.1st place game: Henley 68, Brookings-Harbor 343rd place game: Klamath Union 74, St. Mary's 495th place game, Mazama 63, Mount Shasta 58 OT7th place game: Yreka 50, Del Norte 48Tyler Currie of Yreka was named to the all-offensive team while Tyler Johnson was named to the all-defensive squad and Travis Robinson was named to the all-sportsmanship team. For Mount Shasta, Dylan Padula was named to the all-offensive team and Cesar Gonzalez was named to the all-defensive team. Brandon Accord earned sportsmanship honors.